The Real
by star-dreamer09
Summary: Two people spend the evening repairing their damaged relationship due to her mistake. DustinMarah


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Power Rangers, that would be Disney. I do not own the song The Real, that would be Nevertheless; though I wished I owned that song…it would be amazering!

**The Real**

The stars began to reveal themselves as dusk set on Blue Bay Harbor. The siloet of a young lady began to fade as the last rays from the setting sun tried with all its might to stay in the sky; they were loosing. She sat on the cool grass overlooking the endless ocean with her knees pulled up to her chest with her chin resting on them. _What was I thinking? How could I have been so stupid? I probably ruined the best thing that I could have ever had. But no, I just had to be too chicken to deny the plan, to defy them, all of them. Now, I'll probably never see him again, the way I am right now, and he'll probably never trust me again. I'm such an idiot._ Her thoughts of self-hatred and depression ran through her mind, never stopping to think just the opposite. The battle for the sky was over and the stars won. They twinkled with delight over the quiet town. _It's like they're mocking me_ she continued to think. _ How can they twinkle with delight after the occurrences of what I did today? It doesn't make sense, after the occurrences of what I did today. It doesn't make sense. _Occupied by her anger at the stars, she didn't notice the quiet footsteps that were approaching her sitting spot. It wasn't until she inhaled deeply to recollect her thoughts that she realized she wasn't alone. She smelt the salty sea, the fresh trees, and the distinct smell or him. She froze. Shutting her eyes as tight as possible, she prayed a quick prayer that she was imagining things. Her mind often played tricks on her. After opening her eyes, she turned slowly around to find her prayer unanswered. There he stood, well his shoes. She hadn't built up the courage to look up at him, to look at his face. Moments passed and she still hadn't moved, yet neither did he. Her courage finally built up after looking at his feet for several moments and she looked up to her company and found that he was not looking at her, rather the stars. She quickly searched his face for any expression; anger, enjoyment, sorrow, depression, forgiveness. None. Blank and emotionless. Both which she found foreign to his usual laid-back personality. With a quick breath she decided to acknowledge his presence.

"Hey" she whispered. No answer. She closed her eyes. Her thoughts began to destroy her self-esteem once again. _ Of course he's not going to answer you idiot! After you betrayed his trust today, why would he ever acknowledge your existence? I should ju-_ Her thoughts were interrupted when he turned his attention away from the starry sky to the young lady that sat in front of him. He crouched down until he was eye level with the blue eyed girl, and stared into her eyes, searching for something. Tears began to overflow her eyes, but she didn't move. _What is he doing? Doesn't he hate me? Why is he here? _"I-I'm so sorry…" she began to whisper as her head fell in shame for her actions. She trailed off only for a moment. "You must think I'm a complete jerk, and you have every right to. You probably never want to see me again." She tried to continue, but was cut off when he tilted her head up to face him once again then lightly brushed the tears from her eyes.

"Why would I be here if I never wanted to see you again?" He questioned, wanting to hear what answerer shoe would come up with.

"Revenge. To get even with me for the pain I caused you." Her answer was honest, even if she wasn't looking at him directly in the eyes. He just chuckled and sat completely in front of her. She then turned completely around and stared at him in confusion to why he would laugh. Wasn't he there to taunt her at her failure?

"Marah, I'm not here to fight with you, I'm tiered of that. I'm here tonight to talk to you" he replied sincerely.

"But, after w-what I did to you today-"

"Doesn't matter in the long run, it's in the past" he finished for her.

"But I hurt you. You were on the verge of tears, all because of me." She hated telling him the truth, mainly because it hurt her too, recalling what she did to him.

"I came here to talk and I'm not going to lie. You hurt me, a lot. I trusted you. I gave you my trust and put my life in your hands and you crushed my trust, and nearly destroyed me; literally and metaphorically speaking. You broke it, but it wasn't destroyed." Marah sat there in confusion s he continued on in his tale of her betrayal and his feelings about her actions. "Everybody, even Hunter, knew that you hurt me, but I hid my true feelings. I just pretended that I was hurt, but not destroyed; that I was depressed instead of devastated. I hid my emotions from them because they wouldn't understand. They didn't see the real you. They didn't see your eyes glimmer with hope when I mentioned that you could try being good. Dud, that is what killed me the most Marah. I saw who you really were when I spent time with you, you were radiating joy. But when you turned against me, you just didn't seem, there. Not whole. Dose that make sense?" He finished his explanation while Marah just nodded, answering his question.

_Here I am  
Tonight  
I can't stand  
To Fight_

This feeling of despair  
I hide  
I wonder are You there?  
Sometimes, sometimes (we all wonder)

Seeing that he wasn't getting any real response, he grabbed her hands. His large sturdy hands easily covered her frail small ones. "I don't understand thought why you want to be with me after the pain I put you through." He just smiled.

"That's an easy one, I can tell by you're expression and your attitude on the things that we did together that you and me, we are not so different. We both just want a second chance. We both just want to help in someway. True, your motives were fro evil, and mine for good, but you sit here tonight with tears and true sadness in you eyes. You can't tell me that this is because you didn't with the fight today."

"Well, no, I guess not", was her sheepish reply.

"Listen, you and me were both destined for better things, not worse. How else could we trust each other without hesitation? What I'm talking about is real and you know it. Look at me in the eye and tell me it's not the truth." He began to get excited and his voice began to rise, but not in anger, but because of passion. Marah tried to say it but couldn't tell him that and say it looking into his dark brown eyes.

"You're right; I can't say it's not true. But why now? Why in this situation?"

"Because…I have a question. How did you feel this morning, up there, with Lothor and Kapri?"

"Well, I felt, invisible. Like I didn't matter. I had no place to fit in and that I was disappearing from existence, I didn't have a purpose." As she said these things, she realized herself how much she felt unimportant. Like her heart was gone.

"That's what I thought. To tell you the truth, that's how I feel with my team at times. I'm just in the background, not as important, but I believe that is why we are here, together, right now. We are suppose to prevent each other's hearts from fading Marah. We are suppose to help each other." They sat there in silence as the crickets provided the only noise in the evening air.

_Whoooooaaa   
This is You, this is me  
Whoooooaaa  
This is who we're meant to be  
We are the real, the truth is unchanging  
This is the call to hearts that are feeling  
Whoooooaaa  
_

"If we are suppose to help each other, then how can I help you? You're so good and I'm so…not."

"I need plenty of help, trust me. My sister tells me that all the time, and so does Tori." he said with a slight laugh, but Marah didn't even smile.

"How can I help you after what my entire life has been about? Evil. How can it be repaired and turned to good? I just don't see how it is possible, no matter how much I want it to be."

"Hey, listen to me. I'm here to help you. That's why I came to find you tonight. That is why I'm sitting here for hours explaining to you all this stuff. I don't expect it to be repaired, just to make you whole. I saw the light in your eyes when you were good today. That is why I'm here. I know I can't change your past, but I can help you change your future."

_So it is  
Sometimes  
That I feel  
This life_

Is far beyond repair  
But I  
I know that You are there  
Tonight, tonight (I won't give up)

Without a second thought, Marah flung her arms around his neck and cried. She cried harder than she ever had in her entire life. He, although shocked by her action, just held her close to protect her from any further pain.

"Dustin," she finally was able to say after several minutes of tears. "I don't want to go back. I don't want to be invisible again. But, I can't stay here. Your friends will not trust me a second time, not after what I did. They barely even trusted me the first time. I hurt you too much, and in the process, hurt myself far beyond belief." She muttered into his shoulder, still clinging to his nick for dear life.

"They'll trust you again, in time. You'll see. Your heart is pure, I can see that, and they will too. They can see the truth and if you tell them what you told me tonight, they'll understand, believe me. You were meant to be good, not evil. You weren't meant to fade into the background."

_Whoooooaaa   
This is You, this is me  
Whoooooaaa  
This is who we're meant to be  
We are the real, the truth is unchanging  
This is the call to hearts that are feeling  
Whoooooaaa_

Dustin stood up, still with her in his arms. He pulled her away from him, but just enough to see her glassy eyes. He placed his forehead against hers and ran his fingers through her long, curly, brown hair with one hand and held her tight with the other.

"I'm not sure that I can do it though, no matter how much I want to be good." she whispered. He stared at her with concerned, yet determined eyes. They were harsh, yet soft. He took his hand away from her side and grasped her shoulders firmly.

"Marah, listen to me. Promise me you won't give up. I know you can do this. This is your life, your choice. Not Kapris, not Lothors, not even mine. Yours. Just take a deep breath and keep going. Don't let your self doubt take you down from what you truly want to be. Don't think you can't be good. You can. You just told me you want to be, so just…just don't stop believing." He let out a sigh, signaling he was finished.

_Keep on   
Breathing  
Don't you let this take you down  
Don't stop   
Believing_

The wind began to pick up in the evening air as the leaves from the overhead tree began to rustle. Even more noticeable, at least to Dustin, Marah began to inventorially shiver and goose bumps formed on her tan arms and legs. Without a second thought, Dustin removed his sweatshirt from is shoulders and placed it over hers. And in return, Marah gave him a genuine smile. "Thanks", she managed to whisper.

"Your welcome. You seemed cold and hey, I can stand the cold-"he began to explain but she cut him off.

"No, well yes, but thank you for showing me who I'm meant to be and my potential. For showing me the truth." Without a moment to react, Marah reached her hands up to rest on his shoulders and tried to increase her height by stretching up on her tippy-toes to come face to face with Dustin. As soon as she was level, she let her lips brush sweetly across his. For one moment, Marah felt whole, like everything was ok, that life would be just fine. But, it ended when she parted from him and returned to her normal height. She looked up to see his eyes close. Embarrassed, she began to turn around, that is until he caught her by the wrist.

"Why did you stop?" he questioned. She began to blush as he leaned down to repay her for her sweet kiss

_Whoooooaaa   
This is You, this is me  
Whoooooaaa  
This is who we're meant to be  
We are the real, the truth is unchanging  
This is the call to hearts that are feeling  
Whoooooaaa _

For one night they could be together with nobody judging them. It wasn't good and evil, or even airhead kids, they were just a boy and a girl, under the twinkling stars that hung above their heads like a backdrop to their happy ending to their fairytale. I guess the stars did have something to really twinkle about._  
_

**Authors note:** This is probably one of my all-time favorite couples and one of my all-time favorite songs. Please review!


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